Heading into the 2024 season, Penn State baseball coach Mike Gambino is attempting to rebuild the culture of baseball in the state of Pennsylvania while turning the Nittany Lions back into a winning ballclub in his first year at the helm.

The 2023 season was rough for Penn State as it lost 12 of its final 14 games and finished with a 25-25 record. On top of missing out on a bid to the NCAA Tournament, it finished with a 7-16 conference record, which wasn’t enough to qualify for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

Former skipper Rob Cooper was relieved of his duties, and Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft chose a familiar face to fill the head coaching spot. Gambino was a Boston College graduate and the head coach of the Eagles baseball team since 2011 but chose to depart his alma mater to take a chance on the blue and white.

“I believe in this university. I believe in this program that with the right level of investment can be really special,” Gambino said. “I’ve also seen, and I’ve heard so much about the students…how much they have and want to support the program, and how much fun these games can be when they all come out.”

It’s been a disappointing number of years for Penn State baseball as it has only one Big Ten Tournament appearance in the last decade and hasn’t made a regional tournament since 2000. A change was needed but turning around a team like Penn State isn’t easy.

Luckily for Gambino, he has built a roster that not only features multiple high-talent players from the transfer portal but a mix of multiple impactful players from the previous years’ squad.

Billy Gerlott, Kyle Hannon, Travis Luensmann, Bobby Marsh, and Grant Norris each returned to the Nittany Lions for 2024.

“We have a lot of confidence this year. I think our roster is deep,” Norris said. “We [have] a lot of good players. A lot of new guys that have kind of came and filled in and took over some roles, and I definitely think it’s something that we’re really looking forward to this year.”

Along with returning players, the veteran leadership isn’t lacking in terms of incoming transfers. Adam Cerece, J.T. Marr, and Frankie Sanchez, each big-name players at their former schools, came to Happy Valley set to provide huge depth options for Gambino.

“We’ve got some really good options and some depth. I think on the mound, the adjustments that have been made with pitch design, with the way the guys are moving with their ability to execute,” Gambino said. “I think we’re going to be competitive all the way through. I think we’ll play good enough baseball, and it’ll give us a chance to win.”

Heading into a new season, and even into a new job, every coach has big expectations and goals for their team. Gambino is no different, and with the team he’s assembled, he feels the Nittany Lions have a chance for this year to be special.

“We want to host regionals here. We want to talk about Omaha, and when we talk about Omaha in this program, no disrespect to the Big Ten, we want to talk about it being the College World Series,” Gambino said. “We want the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship to be a step along the way. But to get there, we’ve got to get really good at winning one game and then winning the next game.”